Traditional contact centers are designed to handle call loads based on times that customers will interact with the contact center. Based on projected loads, agents are scheduled to meet the projected loads. As the schedules for agents are defined, they do not necessarily correspond to when specific customers call the contact center. For example, when a customer calls in one time, the customer may get connected to an agent. The next time the customer calls in, the customer will likely get connected to a different agent. In many instances, the customer may be calling based on the same issue. Having to explain the same issue to different agents leads to lower customer satisfaction, thus resulting in the use of more contact center resources.
In cases where customers need access to a contact center on a regular basis, some contact centers provide a dedicated group of agents that support the customer. Although an improvement, in many cases the customer may still be dealing with different agents each time the customer tries to get support from the contact center. Still other contact centers provide a dedicated agent to support a particular customer. However, the customer may still call when the agent is not scheduled to work. What is needed is a system that allows an agent to be scheduled during times that the customer is likely to interact with the contact center.